


Surprise

by tookoff



Category: Malcolm in the Middle
Genre: Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Oneshot, the worst coming out malcolm fanfic yet, this fic is the reason ive been procrastinating, this is so cheesy godspeed, tw for extreme homophobia, yes im working on my other one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:54:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26641756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tookoff/pseuds/tookoff
Summary: In which Malcolm brings a surprise home to his family. Oneshot.
Relationships: Malcolm/Original Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Sorry for not posting for such a long time, I've been insanely busy. I'm a high school senior and shit sucks.
> 
> Anywho, I may or may not have gotten COVID-19 (I'm fine!) which may result in me having two weeks to do whatever I want.
> 
> So here's a cheesy story. Kind criticism appreciated!

Malcolm came back home five times a year; Christmas, spring break, his birthday, memorial weekend, and Thanksgiving. Being thousands of miles away in Boston while working multiple jobs and studying at Harvard has been relentless on his personal life, so he hoped that this sudden change wouldn't ruin one of the five times a years he can actually see his family.

Malcolm told his family about a month ago that he had a little surprise for them this year. Maybe they'd consider it good, maybe they'd consider it heartbreaking, he wasn't sure. But he was for sure that it would be a surprise.

Packing his suitcase full of flannels, sweaters from the closet, two pairs of pants, basic necessities, and a large tote full of his contribution to Thanksgiving dinner, (he's not cooking it, just simply giving Reese the ingredients he requested eight months beforehand), he closed the suitcase and the tote both shut, and sat on the bed to really think about what he's doing. He started chewing on his thumb. Maybe it'd be best to stay home and pretend he's ill. Or maybe it'll be best to leave the surprise at home, pretending he never brought it up in the first place.

Come on, Malcolm. You're an adult now. You can do this. You've had worse than this.

He took a deep breath and steadied his shaking hand he didn't realize was shaking until he finished chewing on his thumb impulsively.

It might not even be a big deal. Maybe they'll just say "Okay? Is that it?" and be done with it.

He shook his head. Just stop thinking about it and do it. You always chicken your way out of these things.

He looked at his kingsized bed, his side a mess, with the other side almost military grade neat and gave a small smile, remembering just why he was doing this.

—

The airplane lifted off six hours ago and was now close to landing. The time was 6:27PM and was estimated to be at the destination around 6:50PM. He shakily got a drink of his Pepsi and looked down at the magazines in front of him (he refused the window seat, extreme heights were always a big fear of his whether he admitted it or not, just something else he was afraid of in his life). He sighed and thought of Piama.

The day Francis brought her home as a surprise, the day that was supposed to be pleasant and happy and eventful, turned sour thanks to her and the unexpected visitor. Even Malcolm and his brothers were mad at him- something that was uncommon. She was shunned by Lois for years until she eventually realized that Piama... may not be so bad. In fact, she might even be nice to have around. But that took years and years.

While, of course he didn't get married without inviting anyone to the wedding, the significance is still heavy, at least to him.

"Here's your neck pillow, Mr. Wilkerson."

Jumping up out of his daydream, he grinned at the steward and placed it soundly around his aching neck, hoping it would soothe his headache.

"Thanks."

That didn't help his headache, but a soothing hand coming from the window seat eventually did.

—

Malcolm sat on the passanger seat of the crappy car with his head lying on the seatbelt as he watched the city close to his home flash across the window, shop after shop and home after home, each getting ready for Thanksgiving. The cool air from the vent was hitting him despite it supposing to be hot air, but he didn't mind. He didn't even notice.

Being so close back to his home, it brought back old memories. Especially memories of high school.

He remembered a certain boy, who came from Europe in a country that nobody could pronounce. He dressed and did whatever as he pleased, with pride in each action. He openly spoke Arabic (something almost taboo back then) and wore dresses and bows to school. He dyed his hair wacky colors and listened to a lot of strange heavy metal. He often talked about his lover back home. But this wasn't a female lover. Even Malcolm thought he was strange, and knew he was going to get a beating, but the severity of it was something he never expected.

Malcolm was there the day Farrukhzad was dragged to the E.R. for a nose broken so badly he couldn't breathe, two broken ribs and a cracked skull. Whispers of certain derogatory terms came from the well off kids such as the jocks and preps, while people like... him remained silent and thought about the boy being shoved viciously inside the locker despite being heavier set two weeks ago, making it difficult for him to fit inside, and leaving marks on his body. It came off as another bullying incident gone just a little overboard, but to people like Malcolm, it remained with him for as long as he lived; a traumatic image ingrained into his brain like a branding. The bullies got suspended for a year and recieved a slap on the wrist from the government.  
While it was a few years in the future since the incident, and things have technically speaking gotten better from the early 2000s, people have never forgotton about just how bad it was. Some may not have remembered him, but he sure did.

A cold shiver sent down his spine.

"Wanna listen to some music?" The voice from the driver's seat spoke up, noticing his grim expression.

"101.3, please."

A warm hand rubbed his shoulder.

—

Holding his luggage in one hand and knocking on the door with the other, the sound of music and shouting could immediately be heard from the patio. Good or bad shouting he couldn't tell.

Lois, with a goofy smile and red on her cheeks, opened the door, letting out a small laughters from a joke that just cracked seconds ago. Her eyes opened wide as she went in and grabbed Malcolm, squeezing his breathless.

"Malcolm! Oh, we missed you." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before finally giving his space. Malcolm smiled, feeling overjoyed with the warm welcoming.

"I missed you too mom."

"Malcolm's here!" Lois shouted into the living room and kitchen. Suddenly, a bunch of heads popped up from random places around the house.  
Dewey, who was now a sophomore in high school, was now significantly and scarily taller than Malcolm, and despite some acne here and there, he was his usually unusual.  
Jamie grew to about Malcolm's hips, his hair messy and wild with dorky glasses on the tip of his nose.  
Piama, seven months pregnant but nevertheless tough as nails, looked just as lovely as ever.  
Hal looked just as goofy as he remembered and now required permanent glasses instead of just reading and his wrinkles were deep.  
And Francis grew out his hair in the front while he shaved it on the sides and had a clean but now wrinkling face face, which Malcolm thought looked sort of awkward.

They all clamored in for a hug, Malcolm having to return it one by one. Voices overlapped each other as he was being ushered inside.

"Where's Reese?" Malcolm thought, kicking off his shoes, taking off his light jacket and throwing it messily on the couch to which Lois rolled her eyes.

"He's in the kitchen. He's really focused right now though, so don't talk to him unless you wanna get right hooked in the shoulder." Dewey explained, going back over to the dining room and setting the table up.

Malcolm with a small grin rolled his eyes at the lack of Reese's introduction. Reese and Malcolm have been seeing each other pretty much at least once a month since Reese got a culinary internship at NYC, thanks to a chef with 3 Michelin stars tasting his food at a bake off and realizing his true excellence, despite his history. Reese's being home was equally as rare as Malcolm being home.

"Not even gonna say hi?" Malcolm joked, leaning on the table and looking at the various pots of random sauces he couldn't seem to place the name of and varieties of meats and vegetables placed in the oven.

"Can't. I'm busy." Reese replied automatically, scuttering around random places in the kitchen.

"Want me to at least help with something?" Malcolm asked, seeing Reese almost breathless from his amount of movement.

"You can help by not leaning on the table." Reese demanded.

"Can I taste test?"

"You think everything tastes good. I've seen you eat cold hotdogs and Spaghettios straight out of the can, and you eat your steak well done with ketchup. Your palate is atrocious."

"You got me there." He nodded.

"Move or I'll deck you." Reese said matter of factly.

"Alright, alright! I'll see what Dewey's doing."

Avoiding clashing into random things propped all over the kitchen, Malcolm walked over to the living room and saw Dewey watching the TV that was now stuffed into a corner while sitting at the table. Malcolm sat a chair down from him and started talking.

"Hey Dewey."

"Hey Malcolm." Dewey said casually, watching the TV behind Malcolm. He peered over his shoulder and saw old cartoons he watched a million times as a kid playing on the screen and decided to wait until commercial to strike up a conversation with Dewey.

"So, how's everything been?"

"Which was a long time ago."

Malcolm squirmed uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry Dewey... it's hard to keep up with the family along with uni' and multiple jobs..."

"So hard you can't even put aside ten minutes a day to call to tell us you're okay?"

"...I'm sorry."

Dewey shrugged, eating an ants on a log stick from the center of the table and crunching loudly.

"It's alright. I can't imagine how busy Harvard must be."

Malcolm smiled. "You have no idea."

"So, what was the surprise?"

"Huh?"

"You said you had a big surprise for everyone tonight."

"Yeah... uhm... well, he- it's not really ready just yet."

"Oh. When will it be ready?"

"Soon. Hopefully, anyways."

—

For the next hour, the house was chattering and catching up on each other's lives. Piama excitedly shared the recently discovered gender of the baby, Lois told about how she got hired as a manager at The Lucky Aide, Dewey and Jamie made up stories about how they're all A students (which for Dewey is true, but he doesn't much care, Jamie on the other hand...) while secretly telling their brothers about all the chaos they caused, Hal and Francis talked about their new jobs that they actually somewhat enjoyed that payed them fairly decently with benefits, and Malcolm, avoiding all questions about relationships, talked about his Ivy League life. Even Reese came over to discuss his life in NYC for a minute while he had nothing else to do in the kitchen.

"So, Malcolm," Lois started, stirring a cup of coffee, "where's your surprise?"

"It's not ready yet." Dewey chimed in.

"Yeah... I have no clue what's taking it so damn long actu-"

The doorbell rang, stirring confusion the family. They excepted it to be a small occasion, and everyone was already here. Malcolm hopped up faster than light and jogged towards the door, swinging it open and hugging the tall man behind it.

"Where were you!"

"I'm sorry, I had a hard time trying to find a hotel in this place that still has rooms open. I finally found one but I'll admit it's not the best- oh, hello."

The gentleman at the door waved shyly. He towered at around six feet tall, had neat brown hair gently combed back, tan skin, and naturally red cheeks that didn't come from just the outdoors. He wore a large brown jacket that covered most of his body and proper pants to match.

"Malcolm, who is this?" Lois asked curiously but cautiously. A wave of fear began to hit Malcolm.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Wilkerson. I'm Darryl Silvers." He smiled politely, brown eyes meeting Lois'. Immediately charmed, she walked over and shook his hand.

"Is this the roommate you've been talking about?" Hal asked, lining up to shake his hand and pat him on the back.

Darryl and Malcolm glanced at each other. One almost busted out laughing, while the other was shaking in fear.

"Yeah, I'm his roommate."

"Well, uh..." Malcolm spoke up gently, his voice shaking, unusual for a man that usually speaks whatever is on his mind, and loudly so.

"Do you need me to leave the room for a bit so you can talk to them, Malcolm?" Darryl asked politely, avoiding the confused glances from the family.

Malcolm looked to Darryl and shrugged.

"Here... I'll show you where we left all our suitcases and coats. You can get warmed up for a bit and I'll be in to meet you in a second, 'kay?" Malcolm took him into his old bedroom and started helping him with luggage, abandoning the rest of the family.

The family peered over to each other and started murmering. Gathering back around to the table, they leaned over and started whispering.

"Why do you think he's being so secretive?" Francis whispered.

"I dunno... maybe Darryl's actually a freak and Malcolm wants to help him hide it. Like a tail or... or a robotic eye." Reese answered unhelpfully.

"Do you think he's embarrased by Darryl?" Lois popped in.

"Can't be. He took him over here, didn't he?" Answered Hal.

"Maybe he's just embarrased to admit he needs a roommate to survive financially." Stated Piama.

"Why would that be a surprise then?" Asked Francis.

"Maybe Darryl is his boyfriend." Reese finally spoke up casually, causing everyone to go into shock. It was on the back of their minds, but hearing it omitted out loud was different.

"Alright, everyone, I'm back! And I... look, I need to talk to you guys..." Malcolm came back from the hallway, the white in his face becoming significantly more prominent.

"Of course." Lois said.

"I... well, uh..." Malcolm thought of where to even start. He prepared speech suddenly left his mind and he stood there stupidly, like a coward. He suddenly remembered a twelve year old boy dressed in a silly costume with wings, strung up in front of a high school auditorium, the only noises coming from his mouth being 'uhh...'.

"I know some of you guys have kind of... speculated about this in the past. And I don't know if anyone thinks if this is a big deal or not! That's why I'm telling everyone now, just in case. Well... uhm..."

Malcolm cleared his throat and started chewing on his already nubbed down nails, but gaining a bit more courage to speak the more he went on. The whole family was leaning in and listening closely.

"Uhm... look, Darryl is a roommate, you already knew that... But I didn't tell you the full story."

"The second I met him I could tell he was different and... well, unique. And after getting to know each other, we eventually agreed to become roommates and split the rent."

Malcolm now sat down on the top of couch that was shoved in the corner along with the TV.

"And after being stuck with him for so long I realized he was... he was a beautiful, interested, mysterious person and, I started thinking back to the rest of my life and I realized maybe I've been... surpressing, a lot of things due to being afraid of being bullied... or worse."

"But I don't want to do that anymore. I got up, and told Darryl about how I felt, and he told me that he felt the same way about me, and since then we've been... dating. As boyfriends. Our ten month anniversary was two weeks ago."

"So... your surprise is that you're gay?" Reese chimed in.

"Bisexual." Malcolm corrected.

Most of the family was thought about what to say about what to say, some of them in shock, the others having a crap eating grin as if they called it years beforehand, before Hal finally spoke up.

"Well... I'll be first to admit that I never imagined having a son that wasn't... well, you know. Straight. And, well, that was kind of silly of me. I'm proud of you for stepping forward and being honest."

"Hal is right," Lois added, sipping her coffee and setting it down almost casually.

"Truth be told, with so many children inside of the house, I knew there was definitely a possibility." She smiled, setting down her mug. "Malcolm, let me tell you, as long as you're not hurting yourself of others, it doesn't matter what you do or who you are. As long as whoever you marry is respectable. Boy, girl, whatever, I still have to approve before you get married."

"Dude," Francis spoke up, "at my military school, at least half of the guys there ended up being bi or gay. One thing I learned is that, personality speaking, it doesn't matter. Seriously, you could cut the subtle homoeroticism there with a knife."

"What Francis is trying to say is," Piama quickly spoke up over Francis, laughing nervously, "we're really proud of you for telling us the truth. And I personally think Darryl is a really nice and handsome guy."

"It looks like you're actually starting to get a good taste in partners. A big step up from Nicki if you ask me." Dewey added casually, grabbing another ants on a log.

"Yeah! And Malcolm, dude, don't worry about it. We all have those sorts of thoughts with guys once in a while. Some even have them a lot, even if you're actually straight. It's normal." Said Reese casually, grabbing cheese from a platter in the center of the table.

"Should we-" Hal whispered over to Lois.

"Later."

"Malcolm? Is everything okay?" Darryl spoke up from the hallway, awkwardly awaiting his response.

He smiled, getting up from the couch and going towards him.

"Yeah, everything's perfect."

—

"So, Darryl, how's Harvard treating you?"

"Well," Darryl clasped his hands, "it's definitely interesting. Something new everyday. I grew up poor, so being around rich kids all the time is a little unsettling, I suppose."

"Mhm," Malcolm nodded, "a lot of brats on campus who got there because of daddy's money."

"Luckily, I met someone who knew what I was going through." Darryl smiled, and squeezed Malcolm's hand on the table, causing him to blush. This was their first physical affection in front of their family. 

"That's so sweet." Lois smiled, watching the two new couples across the table. "Malcolm, you found one terrific guy."

"I did, didn't I?"

—

A few months later, Darryl and Malcolm seperated due to Darryl having to move in another state for a sick family member. They both agreed a long distance relationship would be difficult, so teary eyed, they said their final goodbyea.

Malcolm laid back on the couch in his studio, a laptop in hand. In front of him laid a large collection of bookmarks of LGBT resources. Things like "How to Come Out", and "National Lifeline for LGBT+ People" (to whom he called an embarrassing amount in the past). It may have been months since he's opened up about his identity, but it never made it more easier as time went on. Whispers of a certain F-word circled around him, and chuckles always seemed to have surpassed him. Deragatory words towards his identity circled both the gay and heterosexual community.

But with love from his family and people like his friends and lovers, even his ex's, he managed to grow. For once in his life, he was proud of something that others weren't, and didn't care about anyone's opinion but his own. And for that he couldn't be more grateful.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys like it and it wasn't too corny! It was quickly written. I usually don't like making inserts of OCs but it'd be weird this time if I didn't. Please warn me of any spelling or grammatical errors!
> 
> We all know Malcolm is bisexual. This is just fanon.
> 
> If you enjoyed, please leave a kudos! It's how I know I'm on track with my writing and people are enjoying it


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